Prince Albert of Prussia (1809–1872)

For others of the same name, see Albert of Hohenzollern.

Prince Albert Prince Albrecht of Prussia, steel engraving (around 1860) Personal details Born (1809-10-04)4 October 1809 Königsberg Died 14 October 1872(1872-10-14) (aged 63) Berlin Spouse(s) Princess Marianne of the Netherlands Rosalie von Rauch (morganatic)

Prince Albert of Prussia (Frederick Henry Albert; German language: Friedrich Heinrich Albrecht; 4 October 1809, Königsberg – 14 October 1872, Berlin) was a Prussian colonel general. Albert was the fifth son and youngest child of King Frederick William III of Prussia and Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. His parents had fled to East Prussia after the occupation of Berlin by Napoleon. Two of Albert's elder brothers were Frederick William IV, King of Prussia from 1840 till 1861, and William I, King of Prussia from 1861 to 1888 and German Emperor from 1871 until 1888.

Career

In 1819 he joined the Prussian Army as a lieutenant and held the rank of a general of cavalry in 1852. He took part in the 1866 Austro-Prussian War as a cavalry corps commander at the battles of Gitschin and Königgrätz. In the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71 he led a cavalry division at the battles of Wissembourg, Wörth and Sedan. He later joined the forces of his nephew Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia and Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in the campaign against the Armée de la Loire.

After the war Albert was awarded the title of a Generaloberst. He is buried at the Charlottenburg Palace Park Mausoleum in Berlin.

He was the 74th Grand Cross of the Order of the Tower and Sword.

Family

On 14 September 1830 Albert married Princess Marianne, daughter of King William I of the Netherlands, in The Hague. The marriage was dissolved on 28 March 1849.

They had the following children:

Albrechtsberg Castle, Dresden

• Charlotte (1831–1855), married Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen
• Albert (1837–1906), married Princess Marie of Saxe-Altenburg
• Elizabeth (1840–1840)
• Alexandrine (1842–1906), married William, second son of Grand Duke Paul Frederick of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

In 1853, Albert married Rosalie von Rauch, Countess of Hohenau, daughter of Gustav von Rauch, chief of the Prussian General Staff 1812-1813 and Prussian Minister of War 1837-1841. They had the following children:

• William, Count of Hohenau (1854–1930)
• Bernhard, Count of Hohenau (1857–1914)

As this marital bond was considered a morganatic marriage, the couple temporarily had to avoid the Prussian court. Albert acquired a vineyard in Loschwitz near Dresden, Saxony, where he had a residence, Albrechtsberg Castle, erected in 1854.

Aftermath

In 1830 Albert had acquired a city palace in Berlin on Wilhelmstraße, then called Prinz-Albrecht-Palais. An adjacent street off Wilhelmstraße laid out in 1891 was named Prinz-Albrecht-Straße. After the Nazi Machtergreifung it became notorious as the seat of the Gestapo and the Reichsführer-SS. The Prinz-Albrecht-Palais itself from 1934 served as the headquarters of the SS Sicherheitsdienst under Reinhard Heydrich, from 1939 the Reichssicherheitshauptamt. In 1944 the building was heavily damaged by air raids and finally demolished in 1955. Since 1951 the street is named Niederkirchnerstraße, the area is now part of the Topography of Terror project.